Teachers joint staff council launched

THE Ministry of Education and Vocational Training (MoEVT) is upbeat that the newly formed Teachers Service Joint Staff Council will help address long standing strikes and go slows.
The MoEVT Deputy Minister, Mr Philip Mulugo, said during the launching of the council at the Tanzania Institute of Education premises that the government had a lot of faith in it.
"I will admit that the delay of this council is one of the reasons for strikes and go slows. In future let's not wait for problems to start and should form councils at the right time," he said. The council comprises 10 members from a number of government ministries and institutions, the Tanzania Teachers' Union (TTU), NGOs, officials from the treasury and lawyers and has tenure of three years.

Mr Mulugo said that he was happy with the representation of the council members saying that since the education sector involved a lot of players, he said lasting solutions will be found. "While I pledge that the government will adhere to recommendations brought to us from this council, please understand that your advice may be taken either positively or negatively and might not be taken 100 per cent," he said.

Narrating an incident when he recently visited a school in Mbeya Region, Mr Mulugo cited that a lot of problems on teachers' arrears were associated with not having proper documentation to support their claims. He said that many accountants were
forced to be strict with the demand for documentation because of the heat they got from the Controller and Audit General (CAG).

The deputy minister told the members that since January this year, the government had reimbursed 52bn/- in teachers' arrears assuring TTU that there was 1bn/- in the coffers and additional funds at the local government ministry. "I would like to assure everyone that the government has funds to pay teachers' arrears but it is only after claims with the proper documentation that these funds will be released," he said.
Mr Mulugo challenged the newly elected members to prioritise addressing teachers' problems and asked them to use wisdom in their deliberations and to come up with implementable solutions. As the government strives to uplift the welfare of teachers, a salary board was established in July this year to harmonized salary scales in different institutions and the establishment of teachers' register is in pipeline.

The Teachers Service Joint Staff Council Chairman, Mr Leonard Musaroche, called upon teachers in the country to stay calm while the council was doing its job. Mr Musaroche said that the council had received the advice from the government and that they will strategise on how best to
reduce unnecessary and long lasting strikes.
Source: Daily News, Today